Float for use in swimming pools and at beaches



Jan. 22, 1963 w. H. BISCH 3,074,084

FLOAT FOR USE IN SWIMMING POOLS AND AT BEACHES Original Filed Oct. 15, 1959 INVENTOR Mum/VIA 575a ATTORNEY 3,074,084 FLGAT FUR USE IN SWIMMHNG POULS AND AT BEACHES William H. Bisch, deceased, late of Garden Grove, Calif by Charlotte Bisch, administratrix, Anaheim, Qalif.

(1674 St. Lawrence Way, Pleasant Hill, Calif.) Continuation of application Ser. No. 846,138, Get. 13,

1959. This application Dec. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 76,866 2 Claims. (Cl. 9-347) This invention relates to a float, and more particularly to a swimming pool or beach float having an opening therethrough and incorporating head rest and seat elements. This application is a continuation of co-pending application Serial No. 846,138, filed October 13, 1959, now abandoned for a Float for Use in Swimming Pools and at Beaches, inventor William H. Bisch.

An object of the present invention is to provide a float having resilient and adjustable head rest means, such means being simple and inexpensive, long lasting and water resistant.

Another object is to provide a float adapted to be used by a single bather and incorporating both a seat element and a head rest element, so that the bather may lounge in the water much as he would in an arm chair or chaise longue.

A further object is to provide a novel swimming pool float which may be constructed entirely of plastic of a single gauge, which may be readily and economically vacuum-formed, and which will last for many years.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully set forth in the following s;ecification and claims, considered in connection with the attached drawing to which they relate.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a swimming pool float constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, but illustrating a second embodiment in which the float is filled with foam plastic in order to make it completely unsinkable; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating one end portion of the seat strap.

Referring to the drawing, the float may be seen to comprise a buoyant body 10, a seat 11 suspended from body beneath an opening 12 therein, and a head rest 13 mounted on the body adjacent opening 12.

Proceeding first with a description of the body 10, this is illustrated as being shaped generally as an ellipse, having a somewhat pointed nose portion 14 and a blunt or flattened tail portion 15. The opening 12 in the body 10 is sufficiently large to readily receive the trunk of an adult human. The portions 16 and 17 of body 19, which form the front and rear sides of opening 12, are relatively straight and generally parallel to each other and to tail portion 15, being perpendicular to the major axis of the body. The portions of body 10 on both sides of opening 12 are numbered 18, and may be termed arms since they provide support for the arms of the occupant.

The body 10 is illustrated to comprise upper and lower vacuum-formed plastic shell portions, one male and one female, which are adhesively and sealingly secured together at a joint indicated at 19. The shells define a sealed chamber 21 (FIGURE 2) around opening 12, which gives the body sufiicient buoyancy to support a bather without causing the body 10 to be submerged completely. It is pointed out, however, that the bather thus supported is largely submerged, and thus weighs much less than his normal weight in air.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the entire chamber 21 may be filled with a suitable plastic foam, indicated at 22, thereby making the body completely unsinkable. It is also possible to form the body completely of a plastic foam, such as expanded polystyrene, without employing the solid plastic shells.

The seat 11 is illustrated to comprise a wide flexible strap which is bent into U-shape and suspended from the center portions of arms 18. The strap is sufliciently long that, when the occupant is seated thereon, his arms will be at the proper elevation for support by the arms 18, and his head and upper back will be at the proper elevation for support by the upper portion of the head rest 13.

It is a feature of the inventIon that the seat strap 11 is so secured to arms 18 that it may pivot about an axis perp.ndicular to the major axis of the generally elliptical body 10, and furthermore may be slid forward and backward on the arms. The seat may be readily mounted and demounted without the necessity of tying and untying knots.

The above results are achieved by providing at each end of the strap a keyhole slot 23, the narrow portion of each slot being disposed adjac nt the extreme ends of the strap. At a po nt spaced inwardly from keyhole slot 23, each end of seat strap 11 is provided with a round opening 24 (FIGURE 4). The strap end portions are suitably reinforced by means of an additional layer of the substance of which the seat strap is formed, such layer being indicated at 26.

A short section 27 of rope is inserted through each opening 24 and then knotted to prevent withdrawal. The remaining end of the section 27 is also knotted, the knot being sufficiently small to be inserted through the largediameter portion of the keyhole slot 23.

To mount the ends of seat strap 11 onto arms 18, it is mere'y nec:ssary to wrap the sections of rope around the arms 18, insert the knots through the wide portions of the keyhole slots, and then shift the rope up into the narrow portions of the keyhole slots as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. Mounting and demounting may be accomplished wIthout tying or untying knots, it being understcod that the sections of rope are permanently secured to the ends of strap 11 at openings 24. The rope is sufliciently loose to permit sliding and pivoting of the seat strap on the arms 18, as indicated above.

Proceeding next to a description of head rest means 13. this comprises a relatively long and wide band 29 of flexible resilient sheet material having substantial stiffness. The ends of band 2 are squared, and slots 30 are provided in the band 29 adjacent and parallel to the ends. Fixedly secured to the center portion of band 29, and extending longitudinally thereof, is a tongue element 31 which is substantially narrower than the band and is adapted at its end portions to be inserted through the slots 30. The end portions of tongue 31 are provided with corresponding series of keyhole slots 32, there being three slots illustrated in each series, each slot having its narrow portion relatively adjacent the extreme end of the tongue.

A short section 33 of rope is provided with knots at both ends, each knot being adapted to be inserted through the wide portion of one of the keyhole slots 32. The distance between the knots is such that the rope will be relatively taut when the knots are extended through the center keyhole slot 32 in each tongue end portion. Since the slots 32 at both ends of the tongue are correspondingly spaced, it follows that the rope section 33 will also be taut when one end thereof is in the innermost slot in one tongue end portion and the other knot is in the outermost slot in the other tongue end portion, and vice versa.

The above-indicated variations in the locations of the knots, while still maintaining the rope section 33 taut so that it provides efficient mounting of the head rest means 13, result in adjustment of the resilience and elevations of the upper and lower portions of the means 13. This is because the slots 35) are only sufficiently wide to receive the tongue ends, and are not sufiiciently wide to receive the knots extended therethrough. Thus, the knots serve as stops which prevent outward shifting of the ends of the band 29.

When a knot is extended through an innermost keyhole slot 32, asshown at the upper-right portion of FIGURE 2, the corresponding portion (U-shaped) of the means 13 is relatively high and thin. On the other hand, when the knot is extended through the outermost keyhole slot, as shown at the lower-right portion ofFIGURE 2, the corresponding portion of means 13 is relatively thick and does not extend far below the body. Such adjustments affect not only the elevation but also the resilience of the head rest means. 1 a

With the described'construction of means 13, various adjustments may be achieved by merely inserting the knots through various ones of slots 30. Furthermore, to shift from the relatively high and resilient setting shown at the top in FIGURE 2, to the relatively short and lessresilient setting shown at the bottom in FIGURE 2, it is merely necessary to turn the body it} over in the water. The seat 11 may then be positioned either by demounting it and then remounting it as previously described, or by inverting it through the opening 12. The latter operation causes the elevation of the bottom portion of the seat to be lowered, so that this provides an adjustment in seat elevation. It is also within the scope of the invention to provide additional keyhole slots 23 adapted to adjust the elevation of the seat 11. r

In using the pool float, the bather steps into the opening 12 and sits on the center portion of seat strap 11. .When the seat strap is appropriately adjusted, the action of the water tends to supporter float the lower leg portions of the bather. Accordingly, when the bather reclines his head and upper back against the upper portion of the head rest'means 13, the action-is much like that of a reclining chair or a chaise longue. As previously described in detail, the head rest means 13 may be readily adjusted to give it various elevations and degrees of resiliency.

It is a feature of the invention that the wide band 2%, tongue element 31, seat strap l1-and reinforcing means 26 may be formed of the same material employed to form the shell portion of body 10. An example of such material is butyrate plastic, 80 gauge; The body may be, for example, approximately four feet long, 28'inches wide, and about 6 inches thick. The diameter of the opening 12 may be on the order of inches. These dimensions are given by way of illustration, and not limitation.

To describe further the manner which'the present float device is employed, it is emphasized that the length of seat 11 is such that when a normal adult human is sitting thereon his upper back (in the vicinity of the shoulder blades) is adjacent and supported by the portion '17 of body It}. such portioni 17 is rounded, as illustrated in FIGURE 2, and is free of regions or attachments which might bite uncomfortably into the back. The head of the person sitting on seat 11 may then rest on head rest 29.

When the device is thus occupied, the arms of the occupant rest comfortably on the arm portions 18 of body 10. Furthermore, the seat 11 pivots to such an angle that the bather is supported in a highly comfortable and relaxing position, much as in an arm chair or a contour chair.

It is emphasized that the dimension of opening 12 transverse to the longitudinal axis of the device is sulficiently small that the sides of the chest or trunk of the adult bather are close to arms 18. Such dimension is sufficiently small, and arms 18 are sufficiently narrow, that the bather may readily extend his forearms down into the water and paddle. During such paddling, the arms of the bather are bent at the elbow, at right angles.

it is further emphasized that the seat 11 and head rest 13 are readily and quickly removable, so that the device may be employed as a paddle board, kick board, surf board, life preserver, etc.

Various embodiments of the present invention, in addition to what has been illustrated and described in detail, may be employed without departing from the scope of the accompanying claims.

it is claimed:

1. A float for use in swimming pools and at the beach, comprising a buoyant body having a relatively large opening therethrough adapted to receive freely the trunk of an adult human bather; seat means mounted on said body and adapted to support said bather in sitting position in said opening; and head rest means mounted on said body adjacent said opening to support the head of said bather, said head rest means comprising an elongated wide band of relatively stiff resilient material, an elongated and substantially narrow tongue extended parallel to said band, the center portion of said tongue being secured to the center portion of said band, the ends of said band having slots therethrough adapted to receive the end pertions of said tongue, and connector means to connect the ends of said tongue to each other, said connector means extending around a peripheral portion of said body, said center portions of said band and of said tongue being disposed adjacent the inner wall of said body at said opening, said connector means comprising a series of keyhole slots formed in each end of said tongue, a section of rope having knotted portions extended through selected ones of said keyhole slots, the knots at the ends of said rope serving as stops to prevent sliding of the slotted ends of said band more than predetermined distances away from said opening.

2. A swimming pool float, comprising an elongated hollow body having a large opening therethr'ough adapted to receive the trunk of a bather, said body being formed of male and female sections of vacuum-formed plastic jointed together and defining a sealed chamber therein around said opening, seat means comprising an elongated wide strap formed of flexible plastic, means to movably connect the end portions of said seat means to the sides of said body adjacent said opening, thereby suspending said seat means beneath said body in movable relationship, and head rest means mounted on said body behind said seat means and comprising'an elongated wide band of stiff flexible plastic having a center portion disposed in said opening adjacent said body, said band having upwardly and downwardly extending U-shaped portions the ends of which are disposed adjacent the upper and lower surfaces of said body in spaced relation from said opening, tongue means having; a center portion connected to said center portion of said band and having end portions extended through slots in said ends of said band, and means connected between the ends of said tongue and around said body remote from said opening to mount said head'rest means on said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,764,852 Phillips June 17, 1930 2,389,729 l-lowland' Nov. 27, 1945 2,482,074 Stephens Sept. 13, 1949 2,800,666 Allenbach July 30, 1957 2,803,839 Mosley Aug. 27, 1957 2,946,068 Jasper July 26 1960 

2. A SWIMMING POOL FLOAT, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HOLLOW BODY HAVING A LARGE OPENING THERETHROUGH ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE TRUNK OF A BATHER, SAID BODY BEING FORMED OF MALE AND FEMALE SECTIONS OF VACUUM-FORMED PLASTIC JOINTED TOGETHER AND DEFINING A SEALED CHAMBER THEREIN AROUND SAID OPENING, SEAT MEANS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED WIDE STRAP FORMED OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC, MEANS TO MOVABLY CONNECT THE END PORTIONS OF SAID SEAT MEANS TO THE SIDES OF SAID BODY ADJACENT SAID OPENING, THEREBY SUSPENDING SAID SEAT MEANS BENEATH SAID BODY IN MOVABLE RELATIONSHIP, AND HEAD REST MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID BODY BEHIND SAID SEAT MEANS AND COMPRISING AN ELONGATED WIDE BAND OF STIFF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC HAVING A CENTER PORTION DISPOSED IN SAID OPENING ADJACENT SAID BODY, SAID BAND HAVING UPWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY-EXTENDING U-SHAPED PORTIONS THE ENDS OF WHICH ARE DISPOSED ADJACENT THE UPPER AND LOWER SUR- 